Roller and sod conditioner



Oct. 7, 1941. w. KRENZKE 2,258,061

ROLLER AND SOD CONDITIONER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. '7, 1940 A TTOR/YE) after set forth and claimed and shown in the having; attached thereto I ing the conditioner blades operative' position. 1

Patented Oct. 7, 1941 r oer-ice ROLLER AND son eoNprrroNEn V I William: F.:;'Krenzke, Racine, Wis assignor to Jacobsen Manufacturing. Company; Racine,

I Elis a companyof Wisconsin Application February 7, 1940, Serial No. 317,620

' -9 Claims. (01.97-48) -The'present device relates to power driven sod rollers having-means for "conditioning the sod; 'Ihe conditioners'may be secured to the roller as an attachment'whichis easily attached and easily-removed or adjusted. ""It is afurtherobject to provide a sod stripper as an attachment which is easily attached, removed or adjusted. "-"One'of the objects of the'preseut invention is to "provide sod conditioning and stripping attachments for sod rollers of a 'designwhereby 'no extra cost is'added to the roller per se.

'A' further object of my invention is to provide aisod "conditioner and stripper whereby they may beoperated simultaneously or independently.

' fTothese and otherusef-ulends, my invention 'iconsis'ts'ofparts; combinations of parts, or" their equivalentsf'and mode of operation, as hereinaccompanying drawings in which: Fig; lis a-perspective view of my sod roller mypreferred form of sod conditioner. I Fig; 2 is a-perspective drawing of a fraction of the roller frame as shown in Figure 1 illustrating the 'supporting' roller which is preferred when my'improved conditioner or stripper is not attached.

Fig. 3 is a fractional sectional view taken on line 34-3of Figure 1. F Fig. 4 isa view similar to Figure Bexcept showmoved to their in- Fig.5 is a fractional 'view of the main frame of the'device having attached thereto the conditioner andwthe stripper blade.

Fig.6. is a sectional view taken on line 6-6 of Fi u 1 V "f; Fig. 7 is a fractionalsection of one end of the "roller "illustrated in Figure 2' and taken'o'n line "l-l-Of this figure.

As thus illustrated, the drum is designated by reference character A. The main frame of the 'device is designated by reference character 3.

Thepower mechanism isdesignated by reference character C; -The sod conditioning attachment, the rearsupportingwheels and the roller supporting means are designated in their 'entireties by reference characters D; E and F respectively.

" -13mm A is preferably made from sheet steel comprising the circular shell H) and end heads -Hl i, the endheads being journaled to frame B as at i2-l2 in any suitable'manner.

.1 .FrameBcomprisesa top platform l3 and main members l 4- -M- which are secured at their 55 front-ends to member .13 'as-Lat li5. Rearrbrace bars Iii-l6 are secured to member .l3 -as at +1 1- andto membrsll l as at l8-l8."

mHandle members [9-4 9 are' secured toim'ember l3 as at Il-l'l and extend forward and downward, the lower ends being adapted to icarry the :bearings of member A as at l'2.- Members Bare-secured to-members M as at 20; Suitable braces :2 |12.| are-provided as illustrated and are: adapted F to secure-handle pieces iii-=22 in spaced relation andfor m asrigid attachment for the handlesto memberuBi v. 1 Unit C comprises an :internal combus tion sengine', a clutch andxtransm'ission' andpreierably a.

chain drive connection to drum A and all necessaryappurtenances for a power unit 'of the class including control Tlevers 1' (not shown) .1 which extend towithin easy reach-of. theioperator.

For rolling sod, preferably threeriwood rollers are provided each being.rotatably-mounted on 0 of the weight of thewroller. .is on member A, the

operator may easily liftirollers 30 off the ground forwery short turning rand for other obvious purposes; I Thussl havesdisclosedz and described my sod roller per "se. I will now. describe the conditioning and stripping attachments. 7

For conditioning sod; I provide means for cutting the sod in"narrow ribbons" without severing the root system 'infa manner which will loosen and. aerate. the soil as followsz- V I provide two brackets 40-40:" each being shaped and secured to =members M as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 4. For sod= 'conditioning, short rubber rimmed rollers E are rotatably mounted on the rear ends of members '14 (see Figures 1, 3', 4, 5 and 6) by means of suitable bearings and bolts 4l4'l. These bolts are :slightly longer than necessary and the rear .ends of members I4 are offset as'clearly illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 5 and 7 for purposes which will hereinafter appear. 1

'I provide a knife bar havingwelded to each end plates-66+. These members are each drilled and tappednear the longtiudinal'center =-'o fthe bar and secured to the inner-surface of plates 40 by means of cap screws 41-41. Thus it will be seen that bar 45 is hingedly secured to members 40. Three or more apertures 48 are provided and positioned on a radius with bolt 41 and apertures are provided in plates 46 which register with apertures 48. Thus bolts 49-49 may be used to secure bar 46 to member 40 as illustrated in Figures 3 and 6 or as shown in Figure 4 for reasons which will hereinafter appear.

Bar 45 is provided with a number of spaced slits 50 (see Figure For sod conditioning; I fit into each of these slits a knife blade 5] each being sharpened as at 52. These blades are slightly wider than the depth of slits 50 so the blades may be securely held in the slits by means of a bar 53 and cap screws 54 as clearly shown in Figures 3 to 6 inclusive.

Thus it will be seen that the blades may. b adjusted longitudinally on bar 45 and positioned at two working angles. Furthermore by moving bars 46 and bolt 49 to the front aperture 48, the blades will be held in their inoperating position as shown in Figure 4. Clearly the blades may be adjusted in the slits for different depths of cut in the sod.

Thus it will be seen that by the use of rollers E, the loosened sod will not be packed immediately. However, if this is desired, rollers 30 may be used for the purpose. It will also be seen that by using the intermediate orifice 48, the angle of blades 5| may be considerably increased and the same depth of cut secured if desired by moving the blades rearwardly in their slits.

Sod slicing may be accomplished by the use of a special attachment as follows:

A U-shaped blade 60 is sharpened as at 6|. The vertical end members 62 are slotted as at 63. Bolts 4| are adapted to extend through these slots thus member 60 may be moved to cut any desired depth. The tops of members 62 are bent outwardly so as to provide brackets 64, each having at its forward end a bolt 65 and nuts whereby the desired cutting angle of blade 60 maybe obtained.

If narrow strips of sod are desired for transplanting, then all or every other blade will be left in bar 45. Generally the correct width of sod strip will be cut by using three blades as shown in Figure 5 wherein it will be noted that the two end blades cut a path for member 62. Thus clearly my device may be used for the successful cutting free of transplanting sod strips of any desired thickness and width.

It will be understood that any minor changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as recited in the appended claims.

Having thus shown and described my invention, I claim:

1. A sod conditioner of the class described, comprising a tractor having a frame with forward carrying and driving means and rear supporting means, a sod slicer mounted on said frame and being positioned in re'ar'of said driving means, said sod slicer comprising a bar having mounted thereon a number of spaced blades the lower rear edges of which are sharpened and being positioned at a rearward declining angle, said bar being hingedly mounted at its ends and having means whereby the cutting angle of said blades may be increased or decreased.

2. A sod conditioner of the class described,

comprising a tractor having a frame with a front driving and carrying drum rotatably mounted thereon and rear supporting means therefor, a sod conditioning device positioned transverse to the direction of travel and adjacent said rear supporting means, said sod conditioning device comprising a bar having a number of spaced.

blades mounted therein, said bar adapted to support said blades at a rearward declining angle whereby the sod, is cut into a number of strips, said bar being hingedly mounted and having adjusting means whereby the cutting angle of said blades may be optionally secured.

3. A device of the class described, comprising a frame having rotatably mounted thereon a front end driving and carrying drum and having at its rear end rotatably mounted supporting means,

said frame having a platform and a power unit mounted thereon, said platform having secured to its front corners rearwardly and downwardly extending frame bars, handle bars secured to the rear corners of said platform, the forward end extending forwardly and downwardly and being secured to said first bars and extending a distance therefrom and having said drum mounted on their lower ends, the rear end of said handle bars extending rearwardly and upwardly and having therebetween brace members, said power unit having a transmission and a driving connection to said drum, said rear carrying means being mounted on the rear end of said first bars, a brace extending from the rear corners of said platform downwardly and being secured at their lower ends to said first bars.

4. A sod conditioner of the class described, comprising a frame having front and rear r0- tatably mounted supporting means, a bar se cured to said frame and positioned transverse to the direction of travel and in rear of said front supporting means, said bar having transversely spaced slits on its underside, rearwardly extending blades positioned in said slits and being somewhat wider than the depth of said slits, another bar positioned on the protruding edges of said blades and being removably secured to said first bar whereby said blades may be adjusted longitudinally or removed and replaced, said first bar having adjusting means whereby said blades may be positioned at predetermined angles.

5. A sod conditioner of the class described, comprising a tractor having a frame with forward carrying and driving means and rear supporting means rotatably mounted thereon, a sod slicer positioned between said driving and supporting means, said sod slicer comprising a bar having mounted thereon a number of spaced blades, the lower rear edges of said blades being sharpened and positioned at a rearward declining angle, a stripper blade having vertically extending end members secured to said frame in rear of said slicer, the vertical ends of said stripper being hingedly and vertically adjustably secured to the rear end of said frame and being in alignment with the end blades on said slicer.

6. A device as recited in claim 5 including; certain said blades being removed from said slicer whereby a predetermined width of sod strips may be out free.

7. A device as recited in claim 5 including; means on the vertical ends of said stripper contacting the side members of said frame whereby the down suck of said stripper blade may be optionally secured.

8. A sod conditioner of the class described, comprising a tractor having forward carrying said driving and supporting means, said sod and driving means and rear supporting means, a sod slicer positioned between said driving and supporting means, said sod slicer comprising a bar having mounted thereon -a number of spaced blades having their lower rear edges sharpened and positioned at a rearward declining angle, said blades being adjustable longitudinally whereby the sod may be cut at predetermined depths.

9. A sod conditioner of the class described, comprising a tractor having a frame with forward carrying and driving means and rear supporting means, a, sod slicer positioned between 

